Ronaldo 15 Goals From a Thousand, While Tikveš's Win Over Vardar Hangs on a Medical Certificate in Someone Else's Name

Ronaldo at 41 is still counting: 985 goals, 15 to a thousand

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick on Thursday in Al Nassr's 5:3 win over Al Kholood, with goals in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes. Three goals in fifteen minutes at 41, with two more efforts ruled out. He's now on 985 official goals for club and country, 15 short of the number he told Rio Ferdinand back in 2024 that he wants. Messi, the closest active rival, is on 936. We can argue about what the Saudi league is worth, but 450 of those goals came for Real Madrid, 146 for Portugal and 145 for Manchester United. It remains to be seen whether his body holds out for another 15.

Tikveš knocked out Vardar, and now it's defending itself against a medical certificate in someone else's name

Tikveš beat Vardar 3:1 in Skopje in the Cup round of 16, but the real match began after the final whistle. Vardar filed a complaint: in the file of the scorer of the first goal, Okere Ebube Wisdom, the Comet system held a medical examination certificate in the name of Miloš Spasovski, a player who hasn't been at the club since 3 September. Tikveš says it was a technical error, not a forgery. The Football Federation of Macedonia replied that it never spoke of forgery, but added two things: the club replaced the certificate at 14:26, the day after the match, and this isn't the first time its data in the system has been out of order. The decision lies with the Competitions Commission, and Vardar wants Tikveš eliminated from the Cup. Who actually looks at what gets entered in that system before a match starts?

Inter and Milan sold the name: 650 million euros for Stadio Generali

Inter and Milan have agreed a deal with Italian insurance company Generali for the name of their new shared stadium, worth 650 million euros (535 million pounds) over around 20 years. That's over 30 million euros a year for a name. The new venue is due to hold 71,500 spectators and will rise right next to San Siro, which will then be partly demolished. Milan have played there since 1926, Inter since 1947, and the plan for a new stadium was presented back in 2019 and has since dragged through a pandemic, heritage protection and politics. The target is Euro 2032, if the stadium meets UEFA's requirements. Milan called it "a new symbol for Milan" on social media. A symbol with an insurance company's name: isn't that the most honest sentence in modern football?

Chelsea and 90 million pounds for a player who missed two months

Chelsea, according to the English press, could close the deal for Alex Scott of Bournemouth even before the winter transfer window. Around 109 million euros (90 million pounds) is being mentioned, while Bournemouth are reportedly asking over 100 million pounds. Scott is an England international and was important last season for Bournemouth reaching the Europa League, but a two-month injury has sidelined him this season. Alonso already has Caicedo, Lavia, Henderson, Barco and Reece James in midfield. For now this is a transfer rumour, with no signature and no price accepted by either side. If it happens, someone will have to explain why a club with so many midfielders is paying so much for one more.

Shkendija alone carries more than half of Macedonia's coefficient

The number is 55.9%: that's how much of Macedonian clubs' five-year European coefficient comes from Shkendija. The Tetovo side played in the league phase of the Conference League last year, reached the last 32 and had a European spring. This season they stopped in the third qualifying round. Praise for Shkendija, but the number raises another question for the other clubs: what have they been doing for five years, and how long can one carry the load for all?